Disgruntled students unite to fight university fees

Disgruntled university students over how the government is handling the education system have grouped themselves into what they call Students Initiative for Healthy Schooling (SZZS), via which they aim to put pressure on the Ministry of Education for failing to promote their interests and those of the whole university system, reports TASR newswire.

The students are against the recent introduction of fees for part-time students, among other things, and feel that more should be done to deal with the alarming state of university education in the country. They held their first meeting in Banks Bystrica on Sunday and affiliate the three major universities, namely Comenius University in Bratislava, P. J. Safarik University in Kosice and the Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica.

The initiative also does not rule out the possibility of demonstrations and other forms of pressure in an effort to free school reform of the plans to charge for university education. The students called on education minister Eugen Jurzyca to push for legislation ensuring that students over the age of 30 would be freed from paying health insurance.

Overall, they want the ministry to make the whole university system more efficient, closing some facilities and supporting better performing ones.